Knitted poppies should be a benefit, not a threat to Canadian Legion

A group of knitters in Fredericton, N.B., has been mass-producing knitted poppies for a week and can't keep up with demand ahead of Remembrance Day.

They are getting requests from as far away as southwestern United States for the home-made marvels. The knitted poppies are available for a $5 donation, which the knitters say they plan to donate to the local Legion.

Sounds great, right?

CTV Newsreports that the campaign has received a cool welcome from the Royal Canadian Legion, which holds the copyright for the poppy and could consider it trademark infringement.

The head of Poppyscotland, which you may guess by the name holds a stake in this conversation, told the newspaper that the knitting craze could make them rethink their annual campaign.

Colin Flinn told the Record:

We are very grateful to the knitting and crochet groups for their unique way of raising funds for our cause. We focus on driving donations through traditional red paper poppies as they are part of our history and core values, being handmade by disabled ex-servicemen.

While we would not move away from the traditional poppy as our main fundraising tool, we are keen to explore ways for people to support the appeal. There is clearly a growing market for crochet and knitted poppies and, after the 2012 appeal, we will look at how to take this idea forward.

While the Royal Canadian Legion may not embrace the knitted poppy trend, it is unlikely they will send their bloodhound lawyers to attack the lil' knitters in court.

And it is even more doubtful they'll turn away the donations brought in by the knitted poppy campaign.